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weekendwarriorblog · 5 years ago

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The Weekend Warrior Home Edition May 8, 2020 – CLEMENTINE, SPACESHIP EARTH, BLUE STORY, VALLEY GIRL, ARKANSAS, HOW TO BUILD A GIRL and more!

And the summer that never was continues with no new movies in theaters unless you include a number of select drive-ins scattered across the country. There’s a lot of new stuff out this weekend, some good, some bad, but we’re getting to a point where every distributor big or small is dumping their movies to VOD in hopes of making money. But I guess that means there’s a lot more options of things to see, right?

The Virtual Oxford Film Festival continues this Friday with the virtual premieres of Steve Collins’ comedy I’ve Got Issues and the unrelated doc feature, I Am Not Alone (Note: both of these are only available for folks in Mississippi!). Also, the Hello, Gorgeous Shorts block (love the names they come up with to put these shorts together!) will debut with 8 new shorts, including Bad Assistant. You can get tickets to all of these things at the festival’s Eventive page.

For the next few days only, you can also win the Oxford Film Festival award-winning short Finding Cleveland right here for free! The film directed by Larissa Lam that follows husband Baldwin Chiu’s journey to Mississippi to investigate his roots will have its feature version, Far East Deep South, premiere as part of Oxford’s virtual festival in June.

One of the better films I watched this week (I guess that makes it this week’s “Featured Film”) is Lara Gallagher’s feature debut CLEMENTINE (Oscilloscope), a seemingly simple two-hander indie drama showcasing two fantastically talented actors in Otmara Marrero and Sydney Sweeney (HBO’s Euphoria). Marrero plays Karen, a young woman looking to get away after ending a relationship with a significantly older woman, deciding to break into her lover’s isolated lakeside home. There, she encounters Sweeney’s Lana, a mischievous younger teen of indeterminate age who Karen befriends. The two of them get closer as Karen is still in mourning for her previous relationship, but as she learns more about Lana, things clearly aren’t what they seem.

Gallagher has written a sweet and subdued character piece that at times veers into thriller territory but never goes so far across that line to take away from the drama. At the film’s core is the mystery about the two young women and their respective pasts, because we don’t even learn that much about Karen before heading to the lakeside house.

where there’s a lot of mystery about both of the young women at the story’s core, There were aspects of the movie that reminded me of the recent dramatic thriller Tape, where there’s also an aspect of sexual abuse and revenge, but it really never goes to places that might be expected. I’m a little bummed that I missed this at Tribeca last year, and part of that can be blamed on the enigmatic title which doesn’t really give a sense of what the movie is about at all. But Gallagher and her cast have done a fantastic job with a film that’s not necessarily easy to define or describe but leaves you with a warm feeling that films like this can still be made. (See Never Rarely Sometimes Always as another example of this.)

Now might be the perfect time for Matt Wolf’s new doc, SPACESHIP EARTH (Neon), which is all about the eight people who locked themselves into Biosphere II in the early ‘90s with the plans to live inside the ecologically self-contained environment for two years. Neon had two amazing scientific docs in 2019, Apollo 11 and The Biggest Little Farm, both which were in my Top 10 for the year, so imagine my disappointment when neither of them received Oscar nominations. Wolf previously directed 2013’s Teenage and last year’s Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project, the latter being a decent doc using archival footage, and Spaceship Earth mixes all of the amazing archival footage with interviews with many of the key characters. In case you weren’t familiar with Biosphere II, it was an experiment set up where 8 individuals would spend two years inside an environment that’s meant to be fully self-sufficient. Wolf’s film goes back to the start of what was essentially a theater group who put together a number of global projects before tackling Biosphere II, a project that wasn’t taken very seriously by the scientific community because there were no scientists among the group. It was seen as “ecological entertainment” by some and a cult by others, and those feelings increase when it was discovered that not everything is what it seems. When an accident causes one of the “biospherians” to have to go outside, she ends up sneaking things back into Biosphere II, which is against the rules set up by the group. It’s a fairly fascinating doc if you were around during this time but only heard about it filtered through the news and the PR, but Wolf’s film goes deep into the project and the controversy surrounding it, as well as when it inevitably goes wrong. Wolf manages to get many of those involved, including the group’s leader, John Allen, and there’s even an appearance by another figure from U.S. politics who had their own documentary just last year! This is a really strong doc that is getting a digital release and apparently, it will even be screened on the sides of some buildings, which is a cool idea in this time where there aren’t many theaters.

A relatively big hit in the UK, BLUE STORY (Paramount), the directorial feature debut of British rapper Rapman, adapted from his own YouTube series, is now available via digital download, having originally been planned to get a US theatrical release in March. It’s about the friendship of two young British teens, Timmy and Marco, from the Peckham area of London but from opposite sides of what’s become a violent street gang feud. I saw this movie way back on March 11, and I had to rewatch it more recently since I had forgotten whether I liked it or hated it. I’m probably somewhere more in between, as I thought the young leads, Stephen Odubola (Timmy) and Micheal Ward (Marco), were both terrific in a movie that generally had some storytelling and pacing issues.

Honestly, I didn’t understand a lot of what was going on due to the heavy accents (even with the necessary subtitles), but it also didn’t really stand up to last year’s Les Miserables, a film set in a similar setting in France, but that one was nominated for an Oscar after being submitted by France. Besides writing and directing, Rapman also acts as the film’s ad-hoc narrator through a number of raps that gives his film a bit of a hip-hop musical feel. I’m not sure I was crazy about this decision since a lot of the time he is recapping something that we just saw take place.

The film definitely has a unique energy, as the first half alternates between youthful innocence and faux machismo, neither which generally does very much for me. I did enjoy the film’s romantic underpinnings as it shows young love between Timmy and a classmate named Leah (Karla-Simone Spence) , but that storyline comes to an abrupt and shocking halt about 45 minutes into the movie before the story jumps forward three years into something very different. (To be honest, the romantic aspects were handled in a far more interesting way in the recent indie Premature.) The movie does get far more dramatic and tense in this last act, while it also shows what a talented cast Rapman has put together in order for them to shift gears into the very different tone the movie then takes. It’s a jarring change, but it adds to what Rapman was trying to do in making Blue Story an almost-Shakespearean coming-of-age story set against an authentic urban landscape. I’m not 100% sure Blue Story will connect with young urban Americans in the same way as it clearly did in the UK, because the dialect and slang that pervades the film often makes it difficult to follow, but it’s quite a striking debut from the rapper/filmmaker.

Next up is VALLEY GIRL (Orion Pictures), a musical remake of Martha Coolidge’s 1983 movie that introduced many people to one Nicolas Cage. The new movie is directed by Rachel Lee Goldenberg (A Deadly Adoption, “The Mindy Project”), and it stars the wonderful Jessica Rothe (Happy Death Day) as Julie Richman, the valley girl of the title who is going to high school with her valley girl friends but becomes enamored with the punk kid Randy (Josh Whitehouse), who comes from a very different world. I’m not sure what else I can tell you about Valley Girl, since I’m under embargo on this one until Friday, so I’m not sure if I can tell you if it’s good or bad. I will say that if you like popular ‘80s groups like Modern English and others, the movie may give you a smile. It also stars Alicia Silverstone as the older Julie, telling her own daughter this story in a framing sequence, as well as Judy Greer as Julie’s mother and others, such as Mae Whitman, who can really belt it out in her role as Randy’s bandmate, “Jack.” This is supposed to open in some of those aforementioned drive-ins, as well as being available digitally.

Getting away from this week’s musicals, Clark Duke co-wrote and stars in his feature film directorial debut, ARKANSAS (Lionsgate), based on John Brandon’s novel. I haven’t read the novel, but Clark plays a lowlife named Swin, a drug-runner along with his partner Kyle (Liam Hemsworth), both of them pretending to be park rangers. Kyle is particularly interested in learning more about their enigmatic boss, the Arkansas-based drug kingpin known only as “Frog,” but their business arrangements get more complicated.

I had a few problems with this movie, much of it coming from the relatively weak writing that comes across like it was made by someone who has watched way too many Scorsese or Tarantino movies without really understanding why those filmmakers’ movies are so brilliant. I hate to say it, because I generally like Duke as an actor, but casting himself in the role of Swin without doing much beyond growing a moustache to make himself look sleazier really didn’t much for the material. He was a very odd pairing with the rugged and tougher Hemsworth.

The best part of the film is when it flashes back to 1985 West Memphis and we meet the actual “Frog,” played by Vince Vaughn, and we see him interacting with Michael K. Williams’ “Almond,” who he betrays to take over his drug business. I liked this bit of the movie even if Vaughn’s accent wasn’t great, but then we’re back to Duke and Hemsworth in present day, and that doesn’t hold up as well. Clarke overcomplicates things by creating a non-linear narrative that jumps back and forth in time and between two storylines – again, like Pulp Fiction – but the storytelling and dialogue doesn’t do enough to make up for the confusion this cause.

Clark certainly has brought on some decent actors, such as John Malkovich and Vivica A. Fox, but making himself the focus of much of the movie compared to the far more charismatic Hemsworth, hurts the movie more than helps it. I didn’t hate Eden Brolin as Swin’s love interest, Johnna, but they really didn’t enough chemistry to make them believable as a couple. Don’t get me wrong. I definitely commend Clark on taking on such a big project as his directorial debut, and it definitely grew on me, but it’s an erratic piece that pays tribute to far better films and that is its biggest detriment. Originally planned for a theatrical release on May 1, Arkansas will instead hit Apple, Amazon, On Demand platforms, DVD and Blu-Ray on Tuesday.

Beanie Feldstein from last year’s Book Smart stars in Coky (“Harlots”) Giedroyc’s HOW TO BUILD A GIRL (IFC Films) as Johanna Morrigan, an ambitious 16-year-old from Wolverhampton, England who gets a job at music magazine “D&ME.” She creates an alter-ego pseudonym for herself in Dolly Wilde, and quickly learns she has to be mean in order to succeed and earn the respect of her peers as one of the UK’s most hated music journalists, even after falling in love withs (and then betraying) rock star John Kite (Alfie Allen, who also was on “Harlots”).

Based on British journalist Caitlin Moran’s 2014 semi-autobiographical novel of the same name, I definitely should have liked this movie more, having been a regular reader of the Melody Maker around the time Moran would have been writing for it. The screenplay she’s co-written adapting her own book isn’t great, and everyone involved just seems to be trying too hard to be funny and failing miserably.

I guess the biggest issue, once you adjust to Beanie Feldstein’s British accent, which falls somewhere between Harry Potter and the Beatles, is that it’s hard to care about her character even a little, since she’s acting all quirky one second and then becomes a monster as the film goes along. Johanna is just annoying and when she transforms into “Dolly,” she becomes even worse.

Paddy Considine plays Johanna/Dolly’s father, who still has aspirations of being a rock star after giving birth to a huge brood of children. There’s a few other small roles from other actors like Emma Thompson, Michael Sheen and Gemma Anderton, many of them portraying Johanna’s author inspirations talking to her from her wall of idols.

How to Build a Girl is just another example of the sad state of British comedies, although there are a few shining stars like last year’s Yesterday, which was in my top 10, and this year’s Emma. This one just isn’t particularly funny, and there’s a general feeling of been-there seen-that, as it tells a fairly typical rise and fall story where Dolly’s debauchery turns into an awful human being, and it’s not like I liked her much to begin with. She isn’t as funny as intended and then she gets awful, and it’s impossible to feel bad for her when things ultimately go wrong. Anyway, five minutes later, everything is fine.

It’s the type of autobiographical thing that a writer writes to make themselves look like some kind of hero, and it reminds me a bit of last year’s Blinded by the Light in some ways. h I know a lot of people liked the movie, but I wasn’t really a fan at all. This movie is even less funny and not particularly original, making it feel about as pretentious as the British music press became in the ‘90s. Either way, it will be available to watch at home via VOD as well as in some open drive-ins where applicable.

There are a ton more movies this week, and unfortunately, I didn’t get to fully watch many of the movies below, though I still hope to watch more of these over the next few days and may add a few more reviews.

I heard good things about Christophe Honoré’s comedy ON A MAGICAL NIGHT (Strand Releasing), particularly about Chiara Mastroiani’s performance as Maria, which won her an acting award at last year’s Cannes. She plays Maria, a woman dissatisfied with her marriage of 20 years, who moves into a hotel room across the street after getting into an argument with her husband (singer Benjamin Biolay). I haven’t gotten through it yet as it seems, like so many French movies, to be very talky, but I’ll try to get to it. It will open virtually as part of Film at Lincoln Center’s virtual cinema, following its debut at the “Rendezvous with French Cinema” series that was unfortunately cut short midway this year.

Also continuing this weekend is Cinema Tropical’s “Cinema Tropical Collection” of Brazilian films, this week’s being Caetano Gotardo’s YOUR BONES, YOUR EYES, in which the filmmaker stars as João, a middle class São Paulo filmmaker who has long conversations and monologues with the people around him.

There are a few other docs available virtually this week, including Sasha Joseph Neulinger’s REWIND (FilmRise), a collection of home videos from 20 years ago, when his father would film family gatherings but also documenting a family secret that would lead to a media firestorm and a court battle. The film will be available to stream and download on iTunes, Prime Video, GooglePlay and Microsoft this Friday, and then will air as part of PBS’s Independent Lens on Monday, May 11.

The Maysles Cinema in Harlem is continuing its virtual cinema with Alex Glustrom’s MOSSVILLE: WHEN THE GREAT TREES FALL, which will be available for a 48-hour VOD rental for $12 from Thursday through April 14 with a Zoom QnA with the filmmakers on Saturday at noon Eastern. The film centers around Mossville, Louisiana, a community founded by former African-American slaves that has been overrun by petrochemical plants and toxic clouds that have forced residents from their homes. Glustrom’s film focuses on Stacey Ryan, a man who refuses to abandon his family’s land and fights for his own human rights.

Apparently, William Nicholson’s HOPE GAP (Screen Media) is getting a second chance to be seen on VOD after a rather half-hearted theatrical release on March 6. It stars Annette Bening as Grace who is dealing with her husband of 29 years (Bill Nighy) leaving her and how that break-up affects their grown-up son (Josh O’Connor).

Following its premiere as part of the virtual Tribeca Film Festival, Emily Cohn’s sex comedy, CRSHD (Light Year), will get a virtual theatrical release in New York, LA and other regional markets. It stars Isabelle Barbier as college freshman Izzy Alden who goes with her best friends (Deeksha Ketkar, Sadie Scott) on a journey to help Izzy lose her virginity.

Also in select theaters, on demand and digital this Friday is José Magán’s The Legion (Saban Films/Paramount), starring Mickey Rourke, Bai Ling and Lee Partridge. It takes place during the invasion of Parthia where two Roman legions are brought to a standstill in Armenia’s snowy mountains where they’re dying from the cold. Their only hope against the cold and the Parthian patrols is half-roman soldier, Noreno, who must cross the mountains to find the men who can help them change the course of this losing battle.

On VOD starting Thursday is Spa Night director Andrew Ahn’s Driveways (FilmRise), starring Hong Chau from HBO’s “Watchmen” and Alexander Payne’s Downsizing as Kathy, a single mother who is travelling with her 8-year-old son Cody (Lucas Jaye) to her dead sister’s house with plans to clean and sell it. There, she befriends a Korean war vet named Del (played by the late Brian Denneny), who quickly bonds with her young son.

Also in theaters and On Demand is Tom Wright’s Walkaway Joe (Quiver Distribution), starring David Strathairn and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, a film about an unlikely friendship between a young boy and a wandering loner, who helps the boy look for his father in pool halls across the country.

STREAMING AND CABLE

This week’s Netflix offerings including the comedy special, Jerry Seinfeld: 23 Hours to Kill, presumably taped at one of his nights in residency at the Beacon Theater. The hour-long special is now available and has been said might be Seinfeld’s last special. The Michelle Obama doc, Becoming, will also be on Netflix by the time you read this. It’s the first feature length doc from Nadia Hallgren, and its produced by the Obamas, much like the recent Sundance opener, Crip Camp, and last year’s Oscar winner, American Factory. The second season of Dead to Me also debuts on Friday as well as a number of other series.

In case you missed it earlier in the week, you can now watch last year’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker on Disney+, which means the entire nonology is now on Disney+. You can also watch a new docuseries about the making of last year’s hit, The Mandalorian, called Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian, which has Jon Favreau doing roundtables with some of the creatives with the first episode, “Directing,” now on the service and the second episode, “Legacy,” premiering on Friday.

The new Hulu animated series, Solar Opposites, will premiere on the streaming service this Friday. It’s the new series co-created by Justin Roiland and Mike McMahan (respectively the co-creator and former head writer of Rick and Morty), and it features a voice cast that includes Roiland, Thomas Middleditch, Mary Mack and Sean Giambrone with a huge line of guest voices, including Alan Tudyk, Alfred Molina, Christina Hendricks, Tiffany Haddish and many, many more!

The final film in Lionsgate’s Friday Night at the Movies will be Keanu Reeves’ John Wick, which will show for free on the Lionsgate website on Friday night starting at 9pm Eastern.

Next week, more movies not in theaters!

By the way, if you read this week’s column and have bothered to read this far down, feel free to drop me some thoughts at Edward dot Douglas at Gmail dot Com or drop me a note or tweet on Twitter. I love hearing from readers … honest!

#TheWeekendWarrior #Movies #Reviews #Arkansas #BlueStory #ValleyGirl #HowToBuildAGirl #Clementine #SpaceshipEarth #Streaming #VOD #Digital

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legendary · 7 years ago

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The New Frontier of Gaming

A Conversation with Cyan’s Rand Miller

Rand Miller has been on the frontline of innovation in video gaming since the 1980s. Founding Cyan in 1987, he and his brother, Robyn, set the stage for a full-on revolution in the computer gaming space. Six years later, Cyan released Myst, which soared past every boundary of what could previously be possible in computer gaming, taking full advantage of the CD-ROM’s massive storage capacities (at the time). Over 15 million sold units later, Myst held the honor of being the best-selling PC game ever for almost a full decade and Cyan became recognized as a video gaming icon, known as game-changers for their innovation in both the franchise and their other subsequent endeavors. Today, it was announced that Cyan is continuing their tradition of pushing the envelope into the next frontier: console-based virtual reality. In partnership with Legendary VR, Cyan is releasing to console to their critically-acclaimed game, Obduction, with exclusive all-new content for Playstation 4 and PS VR. Legendary Backstory got the opportunity to talk to Rand Miller about this exciting next step for Cyan, his thoughts on virtual reality, and the future of the interactive gaming medium. See the full interview below!

Q: Talk a little bit about your time before Cyan. Where did your passion for game design come from and how did you develop it into what Cyan has become? What games inspired you growing up?

RM: I had my first encounter with a computer game in 5th or 6th grade, and it was like magic - like I now had access to magic. The game was simple (a text based lunar landing game), but it set me on a path. I wrote my first game shortly thereafter, and I’ve been creating games ever since. The inspiration for the games have always been related to what media I am consuming. After watching the Starsky and Hutch TV series I wrote a game about driving a Ford Torino with a bomb in the trunk. After reading the book, The Swarm, I wrote a game called Swarms about saving the US from an attack of hybrid bees. After playing D&D I designed an adventure that I could take others through.

Q: Myst, in many ways, was a revolution in the computer gaming space, igniting the CD-ROM as a legitimate gaming platform. What was it in the early 1990s that drew you towards CD-ROM vs. the popular consoles coming out at the time?

RM: My brother Robyn and I had been building worlds for children (The Manhole, Cosmic Osmo, Spelunx). In many ways, we practiced our craft with those early children’s games - testing the water, and seeing what was possible. When the opportunity to build Myst came around, we decided that CD-ROM’s massive storage capabilities (at the time) would allow us to build an adventure large enough to not require starting over. The player would have so much to explore that they could be entertained for hours without the need to build in “friction” that make them start over. It was the size of this new technology that allowed us to provide an adventure that had a slower pace, puzzle based friction, and a rich storyline - and we tried to design the game around the new medium.

Q: Give a brief rundown of what the story of Obduction is for the fans who don’t know. What does the idea of it being a “spiritual sequel” to the Myst/Riven saga mean to you?

RM: For us, the spiritual sequel aspect of Obduction means that it’s not the same story as Myst, but it reaches back and embraces the idea of being thrust into a situation that is completely foreign and perplexing. There is something so appealing to that original Myst feeling of being dropped into the middle of a story and gradually uncovering the details of what went on in this strange world - and realizing that you are now part of the story. Obduction re-creates that feeling better than any Myst sequel can, because it’s new. A strange alien artifact whisks the player away to some crazy alien world that has chunks of Earth scattered around. It’s perplexing, evocative, and mesmerizing - we love that feeling!

Q: Cyan has built an incredibly loyal and passionate fan base over the years and Obduction feels like a true celebration of the fans, as it was kicked off via a very successful Kickstarter campaign. What was it like to bring the fans together and make them part of the process to create a new game?

RM: Having the fans be part of the Obduction creation was a special gift - we’ve described it as having 20,000 additional cheerleaders who stood with us as we created the experience. We’ve always felt a strong obligation to provide wonderful experiences, but crowd-funding seems like it removed a layer of abstraction and allowed the fans to see a bit more of the process - cheering us on and supporting us along the way.

Q:What was your first experience with virtual reality? What was it about Obduction itself or the current VR landscape to make you think that the time was now right to adapt one of Cyan’s games into VR?

RM: I was able to try VR many years ago when it required a file cabinet-sized computer, was pretty grainy, and used a tether as thick as a boa constrictor. It was really intriguing back then, but it seemed so far off. Then when I tried the recent iterations - it blew my mind. There was suddenly a sweet spot that had been hit - of course VR was now within reach of the masses, but there was also a visual quality that passed some kind of threshold, and the hand controls added an almost tangible intuitiveness to interacting in these worlds. All of those things are what we have always been excited by.

Q: What challenges did designing the game for VR present to you compared to your past games? Did anything surprise you?

RM: Performance is always a challenge with VR - especially with our focus on rich visuals. VR requires two high-res screens to be refreshed at a high rate - there is a lot of horsepower driving things. Because our games are visually stunning and not twitch/reaction based, we felt like we could push the quality of the visual bar higher - even if it meant a slightly reduced frame rate. We pushed hard in that direction - and managed to keep the frame rate high enough to provide a comfortable experience for everyone. One thing that surprised us was just how much VR provides a sense of scale. Objects and spaces that we built, that looked fine on a flat screen, would suddenly seem too large or small in VR. Because you’re fully immersed in the 3D VR worlds you are able to gauge the size of things like never before. It’s that intense immersion that provides such a sense of presence.

Q: Do you have any favorite easter eggs hidden in the game?

RM: We have a crazy Russian control panel at one point that is a bit of a red herring. In fact, it’s used to enter into an “easter egg” mode where some of our Kickstarter backers were able to add their own “eggs” to the game. But the number that is used to enter easter egg mode is a fun little easter egg itself - it’s actually a phone number from the British TV series The IT Crowd, - a 20 digit emergency phone number that has a song to help people remember it.

Q: What are you most excited about in the present VR gaming space and what are you most excited about for the future of VR games?

RM: The present space is exciting as a transitional phase - game creators (including us) are starting out by moving what they’ve done on 2D screens into the VR space. But with every product that comes out, VR starts to take on more and more of a life of its own. The exciting aspect of the future of VR is the fact that it’s so wide open to be defined - the things we’ll see as the medium begins to mature on its own will be mind blowing.

Q: One of the hallmarks of Cyan’s games as well as Legendary’s properties across multiple mediums is a love and passion for world-building. Cyan’s worlds have always been expansive and intricate and leave fans wanting to discover more, a tradition that continues with Obduction. Where does your approach to world building come from and how are you able to approach each new game to do the story world justice?

RM: We love rich worlds - games, movies, books, TV - doesn’t matter. Those rich worlds are what help us believe. The details we put into our games are meant to give it authenticity and credibility, so that even tiny aspects support the storyline and draw the player in. We don’t just put a skin on a game-play mechanism - we weave the story, the environment, and the friction in ways that feel valid and real - that support each other. Good, convincing, world-based entertainment should always feel like the story is so much bigger - that the experience you're having now (whether game, movie, book, TV) is just a small window into that much larger story world.

Q: In the way that CD-ROM was a new frontier for gaming in the early 1990s, what do you see as the next evolution or frontier in gaming? Is it virtual reality as it exists now or is it something the public hasn’t seen yet?

RM: I feel very much with VR like I felt with CD-ROM. It’s a technology that at first we adapt our old experiences to - but then learn what new tricks the new technology can bring to the table and begin to take full advantage of it. I’m not sure how the hardware will evolve, but VR has crossed some kind of magical threshold that convinces our brains, more than ever, that we’re actually living these experiences. That’s powerful!

Q: What’s next for Cyan? Are you looking to continue pushing more into the VR space in the future?

RM: We’re aiming to create more and more VR experiences. We are so excited by the possibilities that we already have almost a dozen ideas at various stages - with different degrees of interaction and storytelling, but all of which are meant to transport players to whole new words. Exciting times!

Obduction launches today on the PlayStation® Store on PS4™ with a PS VR update coming soon. The PS4™ purchase of Obduction includes the PS VR update. Obduction PS4™ demo is playable in the PlayStation® kiosks at GameStops, Best Buys and Walmarts worldwide, and will be playable with the Cyan dev team at PAX West in the PAX IndieMegabooth, September 1-4, at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle. Stay tuned for more updates at www.obduction.com.

#Worlds

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wimpyrusherwizard · 8 years ago

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“Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul” - My review

(***WARNING!!! May contain positive opinions!!!!)

I walked into this movie feeling two separate emotions: 1) I was prepared to despise it and whatever downgrade that came along with it. And 2) I still wanted to approach this with as much of an open mind as I could and give it a chance. Apart from the recasting controversy, the surge of downvotes on the film’s trailers on YouTube that surely make A Christmas Story 2 blush (yes, that actually exists), and the scathing reviews it has received on Rotten Tomatoes, you must ask yourself a few questions…does it really warrant the critical thrashing it’s being given? Does it deserve to be shunned away from the rest of the franchise? Is it worth my time just to check it out and see what all the hate is about? Is this just a shameless cash grab to make a quick buck for Fox? Well, let’s dive in and find the answers to these harrowing questions, shall we?

This latest installment in the Wimpy Kid films follows protagonist Greg Heffley (now portrayed by Jason Drucker) and his family getting ready to embark on a family road trip for his grandmother’s 90th birthday. But after a ballpit mishap forever brands Greg as an internet meme known as “Diaper Hands”, our hero decides to use this family trip to his advantage. His plan is to reroute the van GPS to a video game convention so he can meet his favorite YouTuber, an obnoxious, catchphrase-spewing gamer named Mac Digby, and appear in his next video with the hopes that everyone will eventually forget the “Diaper Hands” incident. As the Heffleys hit the road, numerous hijinks ensue, including: another vacationing family with a crazy bearded patriarch who has it out for Greg, faulty car engines, dive-bombing pigeons who have an insatiable hunger for Cheese Puffs, disgusting roach motels, a technology ban that the mother Susan (now played by Alicia Silverstone) reinforces with an iron fist, a baby pig, and several other road movie inconveniences.

Seeing as how multiple DOAWK fans, or at least the ones I’ve come across in my life, can attest to the fact that The Long Haul is one of the weaker books in the series, the fact that they chose to adapt this book for the screen was baffling at best. To pad out the runtime, the screenwriters (one of the them being Jeff Kinney himself) borrow elements from the other books to make everything balance out and have a “cohesive narrative”. For me, the better part of the movie is the last half because that’s where the story gets you hooked and it keeps your interest in just what will happen to these characters on the rest of their journey. It’s the only portion of the film where they feel like they’re a real family and it delivers some heartwarming moments that actually got an “awwww” out of me! The first half is more plodding and meandering, confused on whether or not it should give the characters something funny to say or do and is where a solid chunk of the expected gross-out humor and groaner jokes are, playing out like a Disney Channel recut of the 2015 Vacation reboot/sequel. Be warned, easily disgusted…there’s a barf scene that will literally make you thank the sweet lord that this DOAWK movie was not released in 3D. That doesn’t mean there are ZERO laughs to be found. The comedy is present but is executed awkwardly at times, isn’t exactly up to par with the original movies, and is more scattered and sporadic. You just have to really keep focused to find the particularly humorous moments. Plus, four words: Psycho shower scene homage.

While many fans will disagree, the replacement cast doesn’t really bother me as much as I thought they would (except for a certain rock music-loving older brother in the family but we’ll get to him in a minute). Jason Drucker is aware he’s got some pretty big shoes to fill in taking over the role of Greg but you have to give this kid credit where credit is due. He’s got a bit of a young Zachary Gordon flair reminiscent of Greg in the first DOAWK movie but still manages to make this interpretation of the character something all his own. As for the parents, they aren’t too bad, either. They’re no Rachael Harris and Steve Zahn, but their acting abilities appear to be on both ends of the spectrum. Tom Everett Scott, playing dad Frank Heffley, looks slightly ashamed to be a part of the project but he toughs it out the best he can like a champ, and Alicia Silverstone on the other hand seems like she genuinely had a blast on the set and just enjoyed every second of being there. Bottom line, the brand new cast DOES pale in comparison to the original but they’re decent replacements and don’t half-ass their performances on screen. They were a pleasant surprise.

But then you got Rodrick, played by Charlie Wright. After the trailers were first released, the recasting of Rodrick was what pushed Wimpy Kid fans over the edge. “#NotMyRodrick” was a hashtag that blew up all over social media, resulting in countless upon countless internet memes and edits. I will admit, a lot of those memes are really hilarious. But one would put themselves in denial and figure, “Maybe they’re saving all the funny Rodrick scenes for when the movie comes out but now we’re just saddled with the unfunny material”. But putting the controversy aside, does Charlie Wright do the character any justice? Um…they got that Rodrick is in a band called Löded Diper and likes rock music. That’s really about it. Now, in the books and movies, he obviously isn’t the brightest bulb in the tanning bed but he was still fun. Devon Bostick was clearly going to be a tough act to follow because he brought likability to a character we’re supposed to hate. Plus, he was the original emo dreamboat in many a pre-teen/teen girl’s eye. Wright, however, either over exaggerates his lines or is way too laid back. And even then, he doesn’t really seem to take the role all that seriously and is basically winging it. Out of everyone in the film, they wrote him the laziest by dumbing him down to Patrick Star levels (oh yeah...PATRICK STAR LEVELS!!!) He confuses a hotel safe for a microwave *insert immediate facepalm here*, he literally has the line “We’ve got a pet pig, now that means we’ll get bacon every morning” *insert double facepalm*, eats nine sticks of deep-fried butter only to go on a ride at the country fair and declare “I could totally go for another stick of butter” after PUKING IT ALL UP on said ride, and plenty more but if i list everything, we’ll be here all night. The only “A” for effort he gets is for a freak-out scene near the end of the film and it’s one of the few parts that got me to laugh but I dare not give it away here!

I’m decidedly half-and-half so far, but what are the other elements of The Long Haul that need no nitpicking? The music score and the soundtrack are a lot of fun, the color palette and atmosphere pops off the screen and you feel like you’ve been transported back into the world of Greg Heffley again, and the final scene does get your heart in bizarrely sweet way. I don’t know, maybe I’m just a sucker for that kind of stuff.

My overall thoughts in general?

PROS: Most of the cast is alright, Jason Drucker is a passable Greg Heffley (I think Zachary Gordon would be very proud of him), the soundtrack, the last half is better than the first half because of its heart, only three laugh-out-loud scenes, and its aesthetic certainly feels like a DOAWK film.

CONS: Majority of the comedy comes off as confused and unsure, Charlie Wright as Rodrick (seriously, man, what did they do to your character?), the gross-out humor is too much, most of the jokes fall flat, the first half could’ve been written better, and it somehow feels much longer than the past films but yet it has the shortest runtime out of them all (90 minutes).

FINAL THOUGHTS: I can most definitely understand why critics are tearing this movie apart and why fans would do the same, too. Personally, I’m glad I at least sat down and gave The Long Haul a chance. Is it as great as the original movies? No. But for what it is, it could’ve been waaay worse! Would this have fared better by going direct-to-DVD, done as an animated special for Cartoon Network, or as a Netflix Original Movie rather than be released theatrically? Yes. Is it the trainwreck we all anticipated it’d be? Not really. It’s bad but not horrendous. Am I gonna watch it multiple times like I have with the past films? Nah, one viewing is good enough for me. While it is an unnecessary installment, The Long Haul is harmless and if you watch it only to find yourself loving it, then that’s awesome; it doesn’t make you an idiot or a bad person. It means that at the very least, you were able to find more to love in it than I could. So, if I had to give this a letter grade, let’s make it a “C” or “C-”.

#diary of a wimpy kid #doawk #the long haul #greg heffley #review #me #mine #rodrick heffley #jeff kinney #susan heffley #frank heffley #manny heffley #rowley jefferson #don't hate me everybody #i wanted to give this movie a proper review #dog days #rodrick rules #movie review

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farcry5pc-blog · 7 years ago

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Far Cry 5 PC Download

How Much Money Do You Need To Retire?

Ubisoft's Far Cry series has taken us to tropical islands, the snowy mountains of the Himalayas, and to the origin of humankind itself. After Far Cry 5 PC Download weeks of rumors, the publisher announced that the game would, in fact, be called Far Cry 5. Shortly after announcing the title, Ubisoft released four teaser trailers, confirming recent rumors that the game would be set in Hope County, a fictionalized region in Montana. An official reveal trailer followed on May 26, and a gameplay trailer was then unveiled at Ubisoft's E3 2017 conference. Here is everything we know about the game so far. Rather than the overly vocal Jason Brody, protagonist Ajay Ghale is more subdued and quiet, letting the player fill in the blanks of his personality. Instead of simple bad luck stranding him among scores of warring soldiers and freedom fighters, Ajay has a real reason for being in the region of Kyrat: he's returned to scatter his mother's ashes, and the region's rebels are a military group founded by his father. What's more, Pagan Min, the colorful and charismatic baddie, once had an affair with Ajay's mother, making Ajay's appearance in Kyrat a personal one in several respects.

The main Far Cry games are first-person shooters (FPS) with action-adventure elements. Whereas the first Far Cry and its spinoffs were typical FPS with discrete levels , Far Cry 2 and the subsequent games have adapted an open world -style of gameplay, similar in nature to the Grand Theft Auto series, with main story and side missions and optional quests to complete.

On the way to see Nick, we came across a woman being harassed by members of the cult at the side of the road. Random encounters like this in the game will be common and though you won't have to stop and intervene to help every towns-person you see, it's hard not to.

This game is fun. I really like this game with its all out craziness. There is a lot of weapons in this game, everything from flamethrowers to bows. The story is good, but not as good as far cry 3's. There is a multiplayer mode mode, but it isn't anything special. It's a standard multiplayer experience, the single player is where the game really shines. There is also some vehicle combat, it isn't really vehicle combat, you can only Far Cry 5 PC Download shot your sidearm either from a boat, car or gyrocopter. You'll also need to climb towers to reveal the map, in the start there are fun, but later on it becomes quite tedious. There are also outpost, but there are fun in the start and then they become boring. I heartily recommend this game to anyone who has the slightest interest in open world games.

Chris: For a series that had been reinventing itself with each release-Far Cry 1, 2, and 3 were all markedly different from one another-Far Cry 4 was a noticeable departure. It built on the gameplay of the previous entry without completely reimagining it. Coming just two years after Far Cry 3, Far Cry 4 felt incredibly familiar, but the changes it did bring were all for the better.

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jordoalejandro · 8 years ago

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The Sixth Annual List of Movies I Saw the Past Year

Year six. Movie ranking time. Not much up here because I wrote a lot on the actual list. Let's just get to it.

Here are all the films I've seen that have come out since-ish the last Oscars ceremony (2/28/16).

29. Fences - The biggest problem with this film is that it's not really a film. Fences reads more like a filmed play, which makes some sense, because it started as one. Still, when adapting anything from one medium to film, you have to add some, for lack of a better word, movie-ness. Fences doesn't. With the exception of just a few scattered scenes, the film takes place in and around the family home. Important scenes happen off-screen because they didn't happen on-stage in the play. Actors go on long, strained monologues about life because that's what happens in a play (they have that play cadence to them that constantly reminds you you're watching people act in a production). I mean, look, Denzel Washington was, as they say, a force. When he's on the screen, he's commanding. And Viola Davis is the only one who can keep up with him. But I wouldn't say I particularly enjoyed their acting. I think they did a good job for what they were going for, but they were definitely playing to the back rows too much for my taste. There's maybe something here if you like big performances, but I found this to be a real slog, like sitting through a show you didn't really want to see.

28. Jackie - This was, at the very least, a good looking film. And Natalie Portman does a solid job as Jackie Kennedy, shining in the prerequisite shock and horror scenes, though she does give off a strange vibe in many of the other scenes. I confess I don't know what the real Jackie was like most of the time, so maybe it was on the money, but Portman's Jackie, with her affected -- though from what I've heard, apparently accurate -- voice comes off as a bit peculiar. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, like she was air-headed, but not dumb; present, but not wholly there. Chalk it up to being in a bad state following (spoiler?) JFK's death, maybe? Anyway, the movie itself was not great. I think the problem is that not all real life stories necessarily deserve the movie treatment. There's certainly some interesting stuff in the immediate aftermath of the assassination, but around that, it's just kind of a series of disjointed scenes of Jackie being upset in a passive-aggressive, standoffish way. This and Manchester by the Sea are both movies about dealing with grief, but Manchester deals with it in a much more human, grounded, emotional way. This film feels like it's expecting the fact that it's about the first family to do the heavy lifting. Also, I have to note the score. It was this loud, avant-garde style music that reminded me of Philip Glass's work in Koyannisqatsi (that's right, I went to film school). It frequently felt at odds with the movie and was fairly distracting. A weird choice by the director, one of many weird choices made in this film.

27. Lion - This was another true story that I wonder if it was worth making into a film. There's just not that much here. (SPOILERS) The movie is essentially three parts: the first 45 minutes, Saroo, the main character, is a child in India. He is separated from his family and gets lost and wanders around India's streets getting into perilous situations. He eventually gets adopted by an Australian couple. The next 45 minutes, you have Saroo as an adult in Australia. The last 20 minutes is a lot of Googling and then a quick trip. Now, there's certainly some interesting stuff in the first 45 minutes about poor children in India (though, if I'm being honest, it's a little well-trodden ground. Hell, Dev Patel even starred in one of the films I'm thinking about that handled this subject matter better). But the second 45 minutes were just a whole lot of nothing: a guy living in Australia wonders about his previous life, decides he wants to know more about it, and then just acts aloof for a long time for kind of no reason. Saroo mentions at one point in this segment that he doesn't want to tell his adopted mother that he's looking into his former life in India for fear it would hurt her. So instead, he separates himself from his family and friends and retreats back to his dark apartment to obsessively Google stuff and set up a Homeland-style board of clues. Unsurprisingly, this makes his friends and family worry about him. I mean, was it really so hard to just tell your mom, "Hey mom, I'm curious about my past. I'd like to look into it." But then, that might've been a quick discussion, and how else do you stretch out the middle section of a film without creating unnecessary drama? So, then, the last 20 minutes (SPOILER warning again, because this is going to be about how the film ends), Saroo goes on one final, looooong Googling binge, figures things out, flies out to India, finds his hometown almost immediately, finds his mother almost immediately, has a quick reunion, and the movie ends. (END SPOILERS) I think there's a premise here could've been something much better. Instead, it was a strangely structured, fairly unsatisfying film. On the bright side, decent acting from both Nicole Kidman and Dev Patel.

26. Captain Fantastic - I think this is a movie about how being born into a cult might ruin a person for life if they don't get out fast enough. I’m not entirely sure. I really don't know what this movie wanted from me. Viggo Mortensen and his family live out in the woods and learn survivalist techniques and do gardening and discuss literature. I think the film wants me to sympathize with Viggo but he and his family come off like annoying weirdos and he's training them to be survivalists for reasons I don't quite get. On the other hand, it obviously doesn't want me to identify with any of the "normal" people, as everyone Viggo’s family comes across in the real world is either wildly antagonistic or an easily knocked down strawman or both. The film has some funny and/or entertaining bits and decent acting from Mortensen and the kids, who did a good job by making it through most scenes without reminding me they were child actors. The kids, though, are not really developed as characters. They’re mostly interchangeable and are pretty much just used as props to showcase what a good dad Viggo is, and how smart he's making them. The movie is essentially lots of insufferable people trying to prove their extremely polar opposite views on life are the right ones, and (SPOILER) it ultimately decides that it's okay to be forest people, just as long as you also sometimes go into the real world, which… OK.

25. Now You See Me 2 - I feel the same way about this movie as I felt about the first one: they’re both nuts. First, this is one of those exhausting movies where every character is four twisty, chess moves ahead of one another. Like, not just the good guys... the bad guys, the side characters, the background characters, people who appear in just one scene... they're all part of the game. Also, the world the movie takes place in is this insane world where Las Vegas magicians are, apparently, the biggest rock stars in the world, so much so that they have news channels doing live reporting on their tricks and every time anyone sees them they lose their minds. I mean that almost literally. The crowds in this film are crazy for these magicians. They scream and laugh and cheer and gather around in huge, enthusiastic mobs in a way that has never happened in real life for magicians, ever. But here's the thing, too. These magicians? They're also on like, the FBI's most wanted criminals list from their escapades in the first movie. So they appear randomly and put on these huge shows, and then inevitably have to take off running because the feds start closing in on them. The real world equivalent is like if Beyoncé randomly popped up at parks around the country, started singing to the quickly amassed mobs, and then took off running after a few songs as large groups of feds showed up and chased her. I can't even pay attention to the story because this film world is so crazy I can't figure out if it takes place on this Earth or a parallel universe Earth where any of this makes sense. I'm find myself wondering who was asking for this world. Who was thinking, "Well, if no one is going to put to screen the story of criminal thief secret society rock star magicians, I'll be the one to do it. It's what the people want. No! It’s what the people neeeeeed!" The movie also kind of nails that cringey, awful magician speech pattern, where you force a story to go with the trick and make cheesy quips and try to add flair to make it seem cool and mysterious. I really can't tell how far the filmmakers have their tongues in their cheeks here. Did they do that awful magician talk because they thought it would be funny how bad it is and accurate to real life magicians, or did they legitimately think it was cool? I mean, some of the stuff they do seems to indicate they know and are playing, but the finale of the film comes across so sincere that I'm thinking, "Oh no. No. They meant everything." One last thing, because I can't finish this review without mentioning it: Woody Harrelson plays dual roles in this film, as his character from the original and as his newly introduced evil identical twin, which appears to be Harrelson doing something of a Matthew McConaughey impression, including wearing a Matthew McConaughey curly wig. It stands out as one of the nuttiest choices in a film chock-full of them. All this being said, I don't know if I would tell you not to watch this film and its predecessor. They aren't good films, but they're so absurd that they're kind of entertaining. I found myself laughing and somewhat captivated, despite the awfulness. You know, like watching Russian dashboard camera compilation videos.

24. Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice - Okay, here are some positives: it’s a visually interesting film, it has an interesting take on Batman (though less so than Burton’s and Nolan’s takes), there’s a fun sequence with a bunch of real world talking heads that takes on the philosophical debate about how Superman fits into society, and there are some decent action scenes (the scene in which Batman infiltrates the warehouse to get Martha is the high point). Now, negatives. Most of the action is unspectacular. The big final fight, similar to the final fight in Man of Steel, is too CGI-y, which made it hard to focus on (on the bright side, seeing the big 3 of the Justice League together is a pretty cool moment). The actual Batman v. Superman Dawn of Justice fight itself was plodding and bland and the reasoning behind it was contrived. Batman’s motivation for wanting to murder Superman wasn’t strong enough and Superman likely could’ve prevented the fight altogether by articulating a few thoughts before throwing fists. And the ending to the fight is even more contrived and nonsensical (SPOILER: sure is lucky for Superman he was adopted by a Martha and not a Susan or something. Or that Batman’s mom didn’t go by a nickname. END SPOILER). Another negative: Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor is an insane, cartoon character, down to the voice, which I can't fully place my finger on, but I wanna say... half-Snagglepuss, half-Wally Gator? I don’t know what he was doing. I think he was trying to go for an over-the-top, chewing-the-scenery villain, but he didn’t stick that landing and, in fairness to Eisenberg, it was never going to work with Zach Snyder’s vision of this world, which is: grim, dark, and no fun at all. This world is also filled with wanton destruction. People had issue with the ending of Man of Steel for similar reasons (though it had much to do with Superman causing most of that destruction and not saving people), and you might think this almost universal negative reaction would cause the filmmakers to reconsider their approach. Their solution, however, was to have the same wanton destruction (they level like three different neighborhoods in the third act) but just, this time, keep having characters say, “It’s fine, there’s no one in the area.” At one point someone mentions that this whole huge swath of downtown is empty because it’s an office district and it’s after work hours. Oh, okay, that’s reassuring, I guess, unless there are people working late, or janitors cleaning the building, or any bars or restaurants at all in the area where people might’ve gone after work. Whatever. Here’s the biggest issue with the film: it is way, way, way too overstuffed, likely the result of trying to do what Marvel did in five films in, like, one and a half. I mean, this is a two and a half hour movie where every scene feels cut like a montage and lasts about 30 seconds (except for Bruce Wayne’s dream sequences, which are meaningless and go on forever). There’s just no time to breathe in this film. You never really get to appreciate that we have BATMAN AND SUPERMAN ON THE SAME DAMN SCREEN. Oh, and HERE’S WONDER WOMAN, TOO. We should get to savor this more, but we can’t because we need to keep moving, more story, more dream sequences, more explosions leveling blocks of abandoned buildings, more of Lex Luthor's affected monologues, more pointless cameos from other members of the Justice League. And my big worry is that this isn’t going to get any better in the next movie. This movie tried to tell a story (and not a simple one, either, one with grander DC Extended Universe implications) while introducing Lex Luthor, Wonder Woman, and Batman (and all his mythology) to Superman’s world. By the time Justice League comes around, they will not have laid any more groundwork. They’ll have released Suicide Squad (which doesn’t figure to have any significant impact on the overarching film universe) and Wonder Woman (which will at least flesh her out a little more). That’ll leave Justice League to tell a complete story while introducing Flash, Cyborg, and Aquaman into the world (their two second cameos in this film were cute little Easter eggs that tell us nothing about the characters), and catching up on whatever the previously established heroes and their friends and love interests are up to, and introducing whatever villains will show up. There’s a lot of potential here to create an even bigger mess. It’s okay. I trust the filmmakers to not try and cover up any shortcomings they have in the story and character departments with more and bigger explosions. My God, this review has gotten as bloated and nonsensical as the movie itself. Uh… I didn’t hate this movie, I just didn’t like it.

23. X-Men: Apocalypse - This was another superhero movie that was kind of a mess. It's weirdly structured. The first hour is all team building for both the good guys and bad guys: new mutants showing up, meeting each other, interacting, yadda yadda. The next 30 minutes are a side mission that doesn’t serve the greater narrative of the movie at all and seems to have old been added so they could pay some fan service with a short cameo (which, in fairness, was one of the more fun parts of the movie). The last 45 minutes are the big final battle, which isn't particularly memorable and not set up well enough to really feel important. There's the obligatory shots of some cities being slowly destroyed, but we don't really know or see any characters in these cities so it feels somewhat impersonal and makes it hard to care. There's just nothing really remarkable at all about the film. There are also a lot of retreads of things we've seen in previous X-Men films: a “Cyclops's powers awaken” scene, a “Weapon X facility” scene, a “Quicksilver does a bunch of stuff really fast while era appropriate music plays” scene (though, again, in fairness, this scene is just about as fun as the last one and probably the high point of the film). There's even the "emotional appeal to Magneto" scene. Magneto’s arc in these movies is the same thing over and over again. He starts out an okay guy, then turns into an asshole, then at the last minute, becomes okay again, before leaving to go be a loner again at the end of the film. It’s getting tired. I also had a problem with how imbalanced the X-Men's powers are. The bad guy, Apocalypse, is like a God that can destroy worlds. Meanwhile, the X-Men have Beast, who is strong. And Mystique is just about worthless except to pull the one-time-per-movie trick where she walks up to a villain disguised as an ally, only to surprise attack. That, and she's good for leading the emotional appeal to Magneto to stop being an asshole. X-Men Apocalypse probably should have been two movies: one about the new class of X-Men so we get to know them better (which, granted, would've been a hard sell considering they just did a first class of X-Men movie not that long ago and we sort of already know most of these X-Men), and one about fighting Apocalypse so his plan and danger actually connected with the audience. Or maybe they just shouldn't have spent so much time retreading familiar ground.

22. Ghostbusters - This was a decent sci-fi action flick that was passably funny, which is a huge disappointment given the film's pedigree. Paul Feig, Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, and Kate McKinnon, some of the finest people working in comedy today, should've been able to cook up something much better than this. Instead, the Ghostbusters themselves are pretty bland and deliver very few laughs throughout. Honestly, the best and most consistently funny part of this film is somehow Chris Hemsworth. And he's great, but how does that happen with all the other comedy superstars in here? The main crew is even shown up by cameo roles on more than one occasion (Cecily Strong, Zach Woods, and Steve Higgins all produce solid laughs in just their short times on screen). Ultimately, this was a pretty average film that I cannot believe people fought a culture war over. Well, I mean, I can believe it because that's where we are in society, I guess. But, you know... Come on.

21. Jason Bourne - This one had some solid action and I like that Bourne only says about 25 lines throughout. It fits his character well and doesn't bog down the film with too much exposition. But overall, this isn't a great movie, which is so disappointing because I love this franchise. The directing and editing makes for good action films, but smart writing is what made the original trilogy into great films. Maybe it was Tony Gilroy's absence, or maybe it was just trying too hard to force a story for this character, but the writing just wasn't up to snuff here. The story is slow and, even worse, feels unnecessary, created just to allow for Matt Damon to travel around Europe and the world and kick ass. I mean, I can appreciate that. That is almost all that I want from a Bourne film, but it still left me feeling a bit hollow. I will always welcome more Bourne, but if they can't find a good reason for him to continue, then perhaps Jason's story should have ended with Ultimatum.

20. Central Intelligence - You kind of know what you're going to get. This is a decent buddy cop movie with some good laughs and serviceable action, though it has a fairly predictable plot and a few really lazy "lol so random" jokes in it. Kevin Hart does his Kevin Hart thing just fine. To be honest, I actually didn't care for The Rock's character. I didn't know what he was supposed to be: shy loner, obsessive weirdo, or even possibly slightly autistic? He was reading real strange, and I just don't think The Rock was able to pull it off. He has charisma, to be sure, and I generally like him in things, but he might not have enough range to give this character that roundedness it truly needed. Either that, or it was just a poorly written character. Fun movie in general though, and good enough to watch if you catch it on cable one day.

19. Hidden Figures - This was a nice, inspirational movie, even though it felt real dull around the edges, like it was almost made for children. The plot is very paint by numbers and there aren't a whole lot of surprises here. You do get some good acting from the cast, though (of note: Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe, and Kevin Costner), and that helps to carry the film all the way across the finish line.

18. Deadpool - Well, I will say this, this is certainly the funniest movie to ever feature a horrific, 20 minute segment of medical torture. The humor, in general, is very quantity over quality. There are a few really good jokes that land well and the film is at its best when it's making fun of superhero tropes, but there are so many goddamn dick jokes and topical jokes that will date super poorly: Rosie O'Donnell references? Jokes about the Taken movies? These aren't exactly fresh and hilarious now. If you rewatch this film in a few years, they'll make you cringe. The film has some decent, if sparse, action and Ryan Reynolds and Morena Baccarin had good chemistry. It's fun to get a different take on the superhero world every now and then, but I don't know that this film is, or even should be, the game changer that people were saying.

17. Keanu - This movie's got a handful of genuinely funny moments and some great running jokes, though there are parts where the comedy really slows down as they try to ratchet up the drama. Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele have fantastic chemistry and the kitten is an amazing actor, just heart-meltingly adorable. Fans of the Key and Peele show will enjoy this the most, but it plays well to all audiences.

16. Arrival - Arrival looks great and has some excellent acting, especially from Amy Adams, who carries most of the film, and Jeremy Renner, who does a good job without a whole lot to work with. The villains of the piece, though, are a little too one-note, on-the-nose bureaucrats. I was enjoying this film through the first two acts or so, but I had major problems with the ending. (SPOILERS) It's, as my brother put it, "future ex machina." The film essentially uses the causal loop as a way to resolve the plot. The causal loop is cute in movies like The Terminator as a way to make you reconsider elements from the film, but I hate it being used as a linchpin to make the plot work. This film perhaps might have been better served by focusing on communication and our issues with language, which is a subject it plays with well. I would've avoided the issues of time altogether because time travel movies rarely, if ever, are told without getting messy. (END SPOILERS)

15. Hail, Caesar! - This film's story is pretty weak, but all the things that happen around the story are fantastic. Hail, Caesar! is at its best when it's paying homage to old Hollywood with really well done song and dance pieces or sending up the business with excellent comedic bits. The film looks fantastic and gets strong performances out of Josh Brolin and Alden Ehrenreich. It's a love letter to the olden days of the film industry that's not as great as the sum of all its parts. Its parts, however, add up to a very high sum.

-Okay, break time. We're about half-way done with the list so here's where I'll stop to mention the two documentaries I saw this year.

Weiner was like watching a fascinating, slow motion train wreck. It makes you sad about what a good politician Anthony Weiner could've been if he could've kept his dick in his pants. It also helps you see that his passion and inability to back down from anything -- a big part of what made him a compelling politician in the first place -- is also what makes him constantly get in his own way. It's probably what also led to him to allow a documentary crew follow him around as he ran for mayor of New York, and stay around even after his second texting scandal broke. Also, my God do you feel bad for Huma Abedin.

O.J.: Made in America is a wide-spanning, masterpiece of a documentary that presents to you, in compelling fashion, everything you ever needed to know about O.J. Simpson. It covers him from childhood through his recent second arrest and conviction and touches on every part in between, including painting a vivid picture of race relations in America at the time of the trial. This documentary is about eight hours long, but you never feel like there's any stretching. In fact, you sort of wish there was even more. It's a gripping and tragic story and Ezra Edelman did a fantastic job putting it together.

I'm not going to try and fit these two documentaries into the list of narrative films, but I will just say I thought both of them were excellent and recommend them.

All right. Let's get back to it. These last 14 films all received A-minuses or better in my invisible rating scale that I use to help me order the list, so here, in my opinion, is the good stuff.-

14. Doctor Strange - This was a very fun, visually extraordinary ride. The action scenes were excellent, making clever use of space and time. The film is well directed. There's a lot of interdimensional traveling and warping of space in this movie that could've been a mess, but it's actually surprisingly easy to follow. Benedict Cumberbatch is very charismatic, though I felt he could've used some more character building (he just kind of goes from slightly a jerk to not such a jerk). There's lots of setup and exposition about Doctor Strange and his mythology, so there's less time to really develop Mads Mikkelsen's villain, Kaecilius, which feels like a missed opportunity. Otherwise, though, there are quite a few good supporting characters, including The Ancient One, played with some depth by Tilda Swinton. Another strong addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

13. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot - Or as I called it, Zero Dark Thirty Rock thank you, thank you very much. What? Roses? You're too kind. Thank you! Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is an excellent comedy/war drama, with some great dialogue, solid acting (of note: Tina Fey, Christopher Abbott, and strong bit roles from Billy Bob Thornton and Evan Jonigkeit), and surprisingly touching and/or dramatic moments.

12. Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping - There are just so many jokes in this. They come at you a mile a minute, so there are bound to be a handful of misses (mostly when the jokes veer into the too silly, 14 year old boy stuff) but there are a lot more jokes that hit and hit hard. The best come when the film is sending up the music industry, especially using real, big names from said industry in faux interviews. The songs are a real high point, too. This was definitely the funniest movie I saw this year.

11. The Nice Guys - This one's the ol' Shane Black special: mismatched buddy "cops" (not really cops, but for lack of a better cliché), witty dialogue, violence, mystery, physical humor. It's expertly done all around from writing to acting to directing. If you're a fan of Black’s work, this is a quality addition to his oeuvre.

10. Other People - This one treads on somewhat familiar ground but does so in a smart, well-crafted way. It's a film about watching someone you love die, which makes it a hard film to watch, especially because it hits on this nugget of truth: living through the death of a loved one is weird. I mean, sure, it's painful and heartbreaking, but it's also often awkward and frustrating, and sometimes, even darkly humorous. Loss is a part of life we all must experience, but we never really know how to deal with it perfectly and this is a film that touches beautifully on that. Great acting from Jesse Plemons and Molly Shannon at the center of this.

9. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - A great take on a war movie in the Star Wars universe, with some excellent visuals, a fantastic third act, and a breathtaking sequence featuring Darth Vader. The film has a good score but I felt it was sometimes overbearing to the point of distraction -- there's a scene where a bunch of rebels are just debating at a table and the score is playing loudly like a battle sequence. Felicity Jones was a strong lead but, and maybe this is just my own issue to get over, Diego Luna just does nothing for me. The CGI Grand Moff Tarken was a little too CGI-y for my taste. He almost felt like a Jar Jar Binks-type full CGI character that wasn't actually there. I thought it could've used some scaling back but others who saw the movie with me didn't even notice he wasn't real, so maybe that was just because I went in with the knowledge the real actor had died years ago. Ultimately, this movie presents some cool ideas and offers a different, more grounded take on the Star Wars universe, but I have to say, I did kind of miss some of the Star Wars of it all: Jedis and lightsabers and such.

8. Moonlight - A beautifully shot, well written and directed film that touches on some familiar movie themes -- being poor and coming of age, being black and coming of age, and being gay and coming of age -- but combines them in a way that is more rarely seen. It's artfully done and without excess melodrama, though it's, let's say, methodically paced (the whole movie is maybe 10 segments). The acting is wonderful all around. The main two characters who we see grow up through the film are cast well. Chiron, especially, was a rich, full character created by three different actors doing the lifting. This film also received great supporting performances from Mahershala Ali, Janelle Monáe, and Naomie Harris. There isn't really a sour note in the whole ensemble.

7. Hunt for the Wilderpeople - This one is equal parts cute, funny, and touching, and is presented in an interesting style (very Wes Anderson-ian in camera, music, and color). At times, the plot isn't as tight as I'd like it to be, sometimes becoming almost dreamlike, moving from vignette to vignette, as the heroes encounter strange people and situations that don't always make sense. Still, there's a lot of heart at the center of this strange film, and it makes for an excellent movie going experience. Sam Neill and Julian Dennison give excellent performances.

6. Zootopia - I was not expecting to love this movie as much as I did. It's funny, sweet, and very imaginative. The little world that's been created for this film is fascinating, with clever parodies and animal gags (sloths running the DMV, for example). The film provides a pretty decent mystery thriller as well, while managing to touch on issues of classism, sexism, and racism (little on the nose though they might be - it is a kid's movie after all). It's impressive considering there are seven different writers credited on the story. That's normally a bad sign, but this movie worked. If you're looking for things to watch with the family, you could do much, much worse.

5. Manchester by the Sea - As a movie (that is, a story with a beginning, middle, end, 3 act structure and all that), it doesn't quite come all together for me. I wish the story was more solid. It almost feels like a visual novel, in a way, as weird as that sounds. I wish the music, beautiful as it was, was quieter or not there, allowing us to be fully with the characters more. I think these, for lack of a better word, shortcomings, as a movie prevent me from moving this film higher up the list. The reason I have this as high as it is, though, is because if you see this not as a film but as an examination of life, it's incredible. It speaks to how life can be unfair and unbearably painful and yet still humorous (sometimes morbidly so). How love and family can be the greatest sources of strength in our lives, and the things that cause us the most pain. How we deal with tragedy, and how in life, things don't always work out. Sometimes, there isn't character growth. Sometimes, we just find ourselves drifting, trying to make it through life as best we can. Manchester by the Sea is beautiful, and real, and emotionally gutting. Casey Affleck is amazing, his pain just simmering under the surface at all times, constantly affecting him. Lucas Hedges and Kyle Chandler were both excellent in supporting roles. And Michelle Williams, in her one big scene, is heartbreaking. That one big scene, too... my God, it's devastating. Affleck and Williams made me feel more emotion in that scene than any other scene in any film this year did. Don't be discouraged from watching this film because people talk about how depressing it is. There is sadness, to be sure. It isn't a light watch. But there's levity in here as well. There's both. That's life.

4. Florence Foster Jenkins - Another movie that took me by complete surprise. You see the commercials and think this is just a film with Meryl Streep singing bad and that's the joke and that's it. And sure, there's some of that. But this movie, at its core, is a beautiful, lovable movie about chasing your dreams. About making an effort to create, and being vulnerable, and trying things, and being a positive influence on the world. It's also a story about love, and what you would do to protect and support those you love. And finally, it's a movie about empathy, and about how we should treat one another. You get some fantastic acting from Streep, of course. I mean, yeah, she's good in everything, but what she did here, with what could be a one-note character, is made a full human. Streep plays Jenkins with a kindness that makes you love her, and a dauntless attitude that makes you respect her. You want her to succeed, and, knowing she can't, you want to protect her. There's solid supporting work here, too, from Rebecca Ferguson and Hugh Grant (who does an excellent job as a man of contradictions, but one who cares deeply for Florence and will go to great lengths to protect her), but I was most surprised by Simon Helberg's Cosmé McMoon. He brings a meekness and sweetness to his role that really humanizes his character. Look, your mileage may vary here. I’m not blind to some of the issues of this film, but it just hit me in such a wonderful, unexpected way and I enjoyed it immensely.

3. Sing Street - This is a fantastic little indie film with some great music and original songs, really funny bits, and good acting (especially from Jack Reynor, who plays a mentor older brother with a little extra bubbling under the surface). The film touches on the importance of music in life (especially as a form of escapism or a way to speak about love), about taking risks, and chasing dreams. I don't have a whole much else to say about it. It just works on every level and accomplishes everything it sets out to do. One of the most enjoyable films of the year.

2. Captain America: Civil War - The most fun I had in a movie theater this year. It's filled with great action sequences, including the awesome airport fight scene (the best action sequence of the year), that actually have some strong emotion behind them and consequences because of them. It also has some excellent bits of humor sprinkled throughout. There's a huge cast here, but they are used well and play well off of each other. Robert Downey Jr., who is always good as Tony Stark, shows a little bit of range, flashing some of his acting chops in a couple of family-related emotional scenes. Tom Holland is an outstanding Spider-Man and his interactions with Tony Stark and the rest of the Avengers are some of the high points of the film. Finally, I think it's an impressive bit of writing to establish both sides of the civil war as reasonable and somewhat unreasonable. You get why the heroes pick the sides they're on, and why they don't understand how their friends could pick the other side. Their reasons for fighting each other make sense and the fight feels like an inevitability instead of a obligatory point we've been forced towards. Another hit for Marvel.

1. La La Land - Feels like this Damien Chazelle guy might be someone to watch. This movie is pure, wonderful fantasy. It's just a delight. I loved it. It's brilliantly directed and cleverly written. Every shot and scene is so visually interesting and vibrant. There's some great choreography and the music is pretty good, though I actually think it could've been better. It's enjoyable while you're in the film, but outside of "City of Stars," none of the songs really stuck with me in a way I wish they did. Also, (SPOILERS) the ending is so emotionally crushing. I get it, I accept it, it's beautiful and bold in its own way of looking at life, but, come on, if you're going for a throwback musical, end it like a throwback musical. I mean, yeah, it's a throwback musical with a modern twist and in modern life, things don't work out all the time. Okay, okay, fine. But I say leave that stark realism to Manchester by the Sea and leave this film with the magic, happy ending. That’s the effect this film had on me. I know, in my head, the ending makes sense, but this film had me by the heart so badly that I couldn’t deal with it. I was so damn emotionally invested! (END SPOILERS) Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone are incredible. They have the best on-screen chemistry of any couple on film this year. This film filled me with joy and left me in awe. I don't know how you could watch it and not have a smile on your face. That's why it's my #1 film of the year.

All right. Let's wrap it up with some individual awards.

Best Actor

5. Sam Neill, Hunt for the Wilderpeople 4. Jesse Plemmons, Other People 3. Denzel Washington, Fences 2. Ryan Gosling, La La Land 1. Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea

Best Actress

5. Taraji P. Henson, Hidden Figures 4. Viola Davis, Fences 3. Amy Adams, Arrival 2. Emma Stone, La La Land 1. Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins

Best Supporting Actor

5. Hugh Grant, Florence Foster Jenkins 4. Simon Helberg, Florence Foster Jenkins 3. Alden Ehrenreich, Hail, Caesar! 2. Lucas Hedges, Manchester by the Sea 1. Mahershala Ali, Moonlight

Best Supporting Actress

5. Octavia Spencer, Hidden Figures 4. Janelle Monáe, Moonlight 3. Molly Shannon, Other People 2. Naomie Harris, Moonlight 1. Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea

Best Director

5. Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Hail, Caesar! 4. Taika Waititi, Hunt for the Wilderpeople 3. Barry Jenkins, Moonlight 2. Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea 1. Damien Chazelle, La La Land

Best Screenplay

5. Shane Black and Anthony Bagarozzi, The Nice Guys 4. Chris Kelly, Other People 3. Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea 2. Damien Chazelle, La La Land 1. John Carney, Sing Street

There we go. Way too many words about movies. If you stuck around this long, I apologize for the insane rants about some of those movies up in the 20s.

Also, if you stuck around this long, what are you doing? You're crazy and I love you.

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Annual Lists of Movies I Saw the Past Year

#Reviews #Annual Lists of Movies I Saw The Past Year

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